Amid such horrors, there has been one bright spot in the form of shortstop Manny Machado. Through Wednesday’s games, Machado has 23 home runs (sixth most in the American League) with a .314/.383/.573 slash line. That helps make him the AL’s seventh-best hitter so far this season according to weighted runs created plus (wRC+), which measures run production relative to the league on a per-plate appearance basis. Not only is it a massive improvement over the disappointing stats Machado put up a year ago, but it represents the best hitting season of his entire career to date.

Machado picked a great time to put up career numbers, since he’s set to be a free agent after the season. And it’s good for the Orioles, too, though they’ll miss their star player. When Machado is inevitably traded before the July 31 deadline, he’ll command plenty in return, even if he’s just a three-month rental for a World Series contender.

But it’s tough to say Machado isn’t worth the ransom — he’s having one of the best seasons by a trade-deadline target in modern history. Going back to the dawn of the free-agent era in 1975, here is how Machado compares to the top performances by batters who were traded at the deadline,1 in terms of their wRC+ for the team doing the trading:

Machado is one of the modern era’s best hitting trade targets

Best pre-trade weighted runs created plus (wRC+) for players who were traded at the deadline, 1975-2018

Player

Year

Traded from

To

Pre-Trade wRC+

Stayed w/ Acquiring Team?

R. Henderson

1993

Athletics

Blue Jays

182

K. Phelps

1988

Mariners

Yankees

170

✓

J.D. Martinez

2017

Tigers

D-Backs

160

O. Gamble

1979

Rangers

Yankees

160

✓

J. Guillen

2003

Reds

Athletics

159

H. Baines

1989

White Sox

Rangers

157

✓

M. McGwire

1997

Athletics

Cardinals

156

✓

M. Machado

2018

Orioles

?

155

?

B. Bonilla

1995

Mets

Orioles

154

✓

C. Beltran

2011

Mets

Giants

150

J.T. Realmuto

2018

Marlins

?

149

?

C. Floyd

2002

Marlins

Expos

147

S. Pearce

2016

Rays

Orioles

147

G. Berroa

1997

Athletics

Orioles

145

S. Hairston

2009

Padres

Athletics

143

X. Nady

2008

Pirates

Yankees

142

✓

M. Ramirez

2008

Red Sox

Dodgers

141

✓

F. McGriff

2001

Devil Rays

Cubs

139

✓

G. Parra

2015

Brewers

Orioles

138

M. Teixeira

2008

Braves

Angels

136

Stats through July 10.

Machado and Realmuto are both listed among MLB Trade Rumors’ top 10 2018 trade targets.